Data communication apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A document transmission apparatus reduces troublesome labor of an operator when transmitting document data, inputted from a scanner or the like, by various transmission methods such as electronic mail, facsimile, remote printing and file transfer. An address book containing a receiver and a plurality of transmission methods for transmitting document data to the receiver is generated. Upon transmission instruction, an appropriate transmission method is selected by the receiver, then document data is converted into data of an appropriate data format, and the converted data is transmitted. Further, a notice of transmission indicating that the document data has been transmitted is transmitted to the receiver of the document data by a method different from the transmission method of the document data. Thus, the document data can be reliably delivered to the receiver.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/883,586,filed Sep. 16, 2010 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,164,779, which is a continuationof U.S. application Ser. No. 11/754,745, filed on May 29, 2007, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,839,529, issued on Nov. 23, 2010, which is a division of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/835,474, filed Apr. 30, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,239,434, issued on Jul. 3, 2007, which is a division of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/178,420, filed Oct. 26, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No.6,801,340, issued Oct. 5, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a data communication method fortransmitting input data to a plurality of destinations using differenttransmission methods and a data communication apparatus which realizesthe method.

2. Related Background Art

Conventionally, document data or the like, obtained by reading anoriginal by using a scanner or the like, is transmitted to a remotefacsimile apparatus via a telephone line, or transferred to a remoteterminal via a network.

However, in case of transmitting a common document to variousdestinations with different data formats, procedures for formatconversion for each destination designation have been very troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has as its object to provide a data communicationapparatus and method which eliminate the above-described problems.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a datacommunication apparatus and method for transmitting common document datato a plurality of destinations based by on different transmissionmethods by a simple operation.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a datacommunication apparatus and method for transmitting document data bydifferent transmission methods to the same receiver.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a datacommunication apparatus and method for easily performing destinationdesignation upon transmission to a desired designation.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame name or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an environment where a documenttransmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is connected;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the construction of thedocument transmission apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of thedocument transmission apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of the contents of an address bookin the document transmission apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the contents of a destinationlist in the document transmission apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of the contents of a defaultdata-transmission-format information base in the document transmissionapparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a table showing an example of the contents of classifieddestination list in the document transmission apparatus of theembodiment;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are tables showing examples of the contents of adestination list transmitted to a document transmitter in the documenttransmission apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a first processing procedureby a document transmission controller;

FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are flowcharts showing an example of a secondprocessing procedure by the document transmission controller;

FIG. 11 is a table showing an example of a memory map of a RAM in theembodiment;

FIG. 12 is a table showing an example of a program structure of astorage medium in the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing program loading in theembodiment;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the flow of address-book editingprocessing;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing an example of the contents of theaddress book;

FIG. 16 is a table showing an example of data contents of thedestination;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing images for destination-listsetting processing;

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing images of detailed destinationdisplay dialog for changing the destination list;

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing images for adding a member to atransmission destination group;

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view showing images for deleting a member fromthe transmission destination group;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a system according to the embodimentutilizing a directory server for address information;

FIG. 22 is an example of a script of the address book held in thedirectory server;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram explaining processing for transmitting anotice of transmission to notify document transmission to a receiver;

FIG. 24 is an example of a script of the address book including data fortransmitting the notice of transmission;

FIG. 25 is a table showing keywords, ranges and formats used forselection condition expressions for detailed destination selection;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing processing for generating the notice oftransmission; and

FIG. 27 is an example of a generated notice of transmission.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[First Embodiment]

Hereinbelow, an embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

<Construction of Document Transmission Apparatus>

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a basic environmentwhere an apparatus embodying the present invention operates. In FIG. 1,reference numeral 101 denotes a document transmission apparatusembodying the present invention. The document transmission apparatus 101is connected to a network 107 and a telephone line 106. Numeral 102denotes an electronic mail server connected to the network. Theelectronic mail server 102 supports a standard mail-transfer protocolSMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). Numeral 103 denotes a file serverto operate a remote file system. The file server 103, connected to thenetwork, supports the file transfer protocol FTP. Numeral 104 denotes adatabase connected to the network. The database 104 supports Salutationprotocol. Numeral 105 denotes a printer connected to the network. Theprinter 105 supports a network printing protocol Ipr.

The above elements 102 to 105 respectively have a destination (address)according to respective transmission methods.

Numeral 108 denotes a client PC on which a browser supporting HTTP/HTMLoperates.

Note that in the following description, elements having the samereference numerals have the same functions.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a construction of thedocument transmission apparatus of the embodiment.

In FIG. 2, numeral 201 denotes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) forperforming control and calculation and the like for the overallapparatus. Numeral 202 denotes a ROM (Read Only Memory) as a storagearea for storing a system starting program, fixed information and thelike. Numeral 203 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a data storagearea without limitation of use, for loading and executing variousprograms and data in various processings as shown in the flowcharts tobe described later. For example, the RAM 203 includes an input documentarea 203 a for storing document data inputted from a scanner 210, a harddisk (HD) 205, a floppy disk (FD) 204 and the like, destination listarea 203 b for storing a generated destination list, transmissiondocument area 203 c for storing data for transmission generated from aninput document through format conversion, and program load area 203 dfor loading programs from the HD 205 and the FD 204.

Numeral 204 denotes a floppy disk (FD) drive which stores a program anddata into a floppy disk 212 in advance, and upon execution of theprogram, refers to or loads the program and data onto the RAM 203 asneeded. Numeral 205 denotes a hard disk (HD) drive. A system or programis loaded from the HD drive 205 into the RAM 203 and started. Thestarted system or program loads data or information stored in the HDdrive 205 onto the RAM 203 as needed. The HD drive 205 is also used as astorage for temporarily storing document data read from the scanner. Forexample, input document data, an address book 301 and a defaultdata-transmission-format information base 304 are stored in the HD drive205. Further, programs such as an OS, a document-transmission controlprogram 205 a, a destination-list generation program 205 b, a documentinput program 205 c, a format conversion program 205 d and a documenttransmission program 205 e, are held in the HD driver 205. The defaultdata-transmission-format information base 304 and the format conversionprogram 205 d include data and programs for conversion to existingvarious formats. The document transmission program 205 e includes dataand programs according to various transmission protocols. The data andprograms may be stored in the FD 212. Note that the FD, the HD, aCD-ROM, an MO and the like are referred to as external storage devices.

Numeral 206 denotes a keyboard for inputting information to the CPU 201.One key on the keyboard is used as a Start key 206 a for instruction ofdocument data transmission. Numeral 207 denotes a display device such asa CRT for displaying data. Numeral 208 denotes a network interface.Connection with the network 107 is made via the interface 208. Numeral209 denotes a facsimile modem. Connection with the telephone line 106 ismade via the facsimile modem 209. Numeral 210 denotes a scanner forreading documents. Numeral 211 denotes a system bus which is a data pathamong the above-described elements.

The present apparatus operates by execution of a basic I/O program, theOS and a document transmission program module group by the CPU 201. Thebasic I/O program is written in the ROM 202, and the OS, in the HD drive205. When the present system starts, the OS is read from the HD drive205 into the RAM 203 by the IPL (Initial Program Loading) function ofthe basic I/O program, and thus the operation of the OS is started.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of thedocument transmission apparatus of the embodiment. Note that thefunctions of the respective functional elements are realized by loadingprograms from the HD drive 205 onto the RAM 203 and executing theprograms by the CPU while utilizing the resources in the apparatus.

A destination list generator 300 generates a transmission destinationlist by copying items of designated destinations from the address book301. As shown in FIG. 4, data transmission formats designated forrespective destinations are described with transmission methods anddestinations in the address book. Note that destinations may be inputtedwith the transmission methods from the keyboard 206.

FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of the contents of the address book301.

In the address book, a destination address (401), a transmission method402 such as e-mail, facsimile or Ipr, a data transmission format (textformat) 403 used for document type, a format for monochrome document 404and a format for color document 405, are described for each destination,as one set of information of the information base. In the case where adata transmission format is not described in the address book, a defaultformat, determined by a transmission method designated in accordancewith information in the default data-transmission-format informationbase 304, is used. The address book 301 is installed as a file existingon the HD drive 205, and it can be edited appropriately. The addressbook will be described in detail later.

When the Start key 206 a is depressed, the destination list is sent to adocument transmission controller 302. As shown in FIG. 5, destinations,transmission methods and data transmission formats are described in thedestination list generated by picking up designated destinations fromthe address book 301.

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the contents of the destinationlist.

A destination address 501, a transmission method 502, a datatransmission format used for document type (text format) 503, a format504 for monochrome document and a format 505 for color document aredescribed for each destination in the destination list.

The document transmission controller 302 classifies the destination listbased on data transmission format in accordance with document type data303 indicative of document types. If a data transmission format is notdesignated in the destination list, information from the defaultdata-transmission-format information base 304 designating default datatransmission formats for transmission methods is used.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of the contents of the defaultdata-transmission-format information base 304.

A transmission method 601, a data transmission format (text format) 602used for document type, a format 603 for a monochrome document and aformat 604 for a color document are described for each transmissionmethod, as one set of information of the information base, in thedefault data-transmission-format information base 304. The defaultdata-transmission-format information base 304 is installed as a fileexisting on the HD drive 205, and can be appropriately edited inaccordance with requirements from the system environment.

FIG. 7 is a table showing an example of the contents of the destinationlist when classification based on default data transmission formatsetting, data transmission format and communication method has beencompleted.

As shown in FIG. 7, destination addresses 701, transmission methods 702,and data transmission formats 705 used for document data type, arerearranged in accordance with the classification.

In this example, as a default data transmission format, LIPS is set fora destination “1 mn.1 kj.jp”. Further, JPEG documents are collected inaccordance with data-transmission-format based classification, anddocuments to be sent via e-mail are collected in accordance withcommunication-method based classification. Accordingly, the documenttransmission controller 302 instructs the format converter 308 on formatconversion for each group of destinations having a common format, inaccordance with the data-transmission-format based classification.Further, the document transmission controller 302 instructs the documenttransmitter 309 on transmission for each group of destinations accordingto a common communication method, in accordance with thecommunication-method based classification.

The document transmission controller 302 designates the document inputsource (the scanner 210 or the HD drive 205) of document data, andinstructs a document input unit 305 to input the document data. Theinput document data is temporarily stored in the input document area 203a or the like by the document input unit 305. When the input of thedocument data has been completed, the document transmission controller302 provides a data transmission format to the format converter 308 inaccordance with the classified destination list, and instructs theformat converter 308 to perform format conversion. The format converter308 converts the input document data to data in the designated datatransmission format.

When the document data has been converted, the document transmissioncontroller 302 transfers the document data from the format converter 308to the document transmitter 309. The document transmitter 309 isprovided with a destination list of destinations using the converteddata transmission format.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show examples of the destination list provided from theclassified destination list as shown in FIG. 7 to the documenttransmitter 309.

FIG. 8A shows a designation list instructing the document transmitter309 to send the document data converted by the format converter 308 incorrespondence with the JPEG format to two receivers by e-mailtransmission. FIG. 8B shows a destination list instructing the documenttransmitter 309 to file-transmit the document data converted by theformat converter 308 in correspondence with the JPEG format to onereceiver.

The document transmitter 309 transmits the input document data to thedesignated destination by the designated transmission method. When thedocument transmission to all the destinations included in thedestination list has been completed, the document transmissioncontroller 302 instructs the document input unit 305 and the formatconverter 308 to delete the temporarily stored document data.

<Processing Procedure of Document Transmission Apparatus>

(First Processing Procedure)

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document transmissioncontroller when the Start key 206 a is depressed and the destinationlist and the document data types are provided to the documenttransmission controller 302.

At step S901, one input destination is read. At step S902, it isdetermined whether or not a data transmission format corresponding tothe type of the designated document data is designated, i.e., whether ornot a data transmission format is described in correspondence with thedesignated destination. If a data transmission format is not designated,the process proceeds to step S903, at which a data transmission formatis specified from information of the default data-transmission-formatinformation base 304 and the type of the designated document data, andthe data transmission format is written in the destination list. If itis determined at step S904 that the next destination exists, the processreturns to step S901 at which the next destination is read, and stepsS901 to S904 are repeated with respect to all the destinations in thedestination list.

Next, at step S905, the destinations are classified with the datatransmission formats of designated document data types as keys (e.g.,Format1, Format2 and the like). Further, at step S906, a plurality ofdestinations using the same data transmission format are classified withtransmission methods as keys (in FIG. 7, JPEG data transmission formatdestinations are classified into “e-mail” destinations and a “ftp”destination).

At step S907, the document input unit 305 is instructed to input thedocument data, and at step S908, the completion of document data inputis waited. The input document data is temporarily stored in the documentinput unit (the input document area 203 a).

At step S909, a data transmission format necessary for the firstdestination in the classified destination list is designated, and theformat converter 308 is instructed to perform format conversion on theinput document data in correspondence with the designated datatransmission format (in FIG. 7, the first designated format is JPEG, andthe next format is TIFF-MMR). The converted document data is temporarilystored in the format converter (transmission document area 203 c). Atstep S910, it is determined whether or not the format of the converteddocument data is the last format in the destination list classified atstep S906. If it is the last format, the deletion of the document datatemporarily stored in the document input unit is instructed at stepS911.

Next, at step S912, a destination list (See FIG. 8A) of destinationsusing the first transmission method designated at step S909 is generatedfrom the destination list classified at step S906. At step S913, thedocument transmitter 309 is instructed to transmit the document dataheld in the format converter 308 with the destination list generated atstep S912 and the transmission methods as parameters. At step S914, if aplurality of document data of the same data transmission format exist,the process returns to step S912, at which a destination list (See FIG.8B) of destinations using the next transmission method designated atstep S909 is generated. Thus, steps S912 to S914 are repeated withrespect to all the transmission methods for transmitting the documentdata in the data transmission formats designated at step S909.

At step S915, if the next destination exists, the process returns tostep S909, at which the next data transmission format is designated.Thus, steps S909 to S915 are repeated with respect to all the datatransmission formats in the classified destination list.

When the transmission with respect to all the destinations has beencompleted, deletion of the document data temporarily stored in theformat converter is instructed at step S916, and the document datatransmission ends.

(Second Processing Procedure)

In the above-described first processing procedure, the destination listis classified in accordance with document type data, then the documentdata is inputted and sequentially converted to data of necessary datatransmission formats for transmission. However, as long as the formatconverter 308 and the document transmitter 309 can utilize resourcesnecessary for operation, such as the RAM 203, the hard disk 205, thenetwork interface 208 and the facsimile modem 209, further efficientdocument transmission is possible by parallel operation.

Next, the second processing procedure will be described with referenceto FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C.

FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are flowcharts showing the operation of thedocument transmission controller 302 when the Start key 206 a has beendepressed and the destination list and the document data type have beenprovided to the document transmission controller 302.

At step S1001, an input destination is read. At step S1002, similarly tothe above-described step S902, it is determined whether or not a datatransmission format corresponding to the type of the designated documentdata is designated, i.e., whether or not a data transmission format isdescribed in correspondence with the designated destination. If a datatransmission format is not designated, the process proceeds to stepS1003, at which a data transmission format is specified from informationof the default data-transmission-format information base 304 and thetype of the designated document data, and the data transmission formatis written in the destination list. If it is determined at step S1004that a next destination exists, the process returns to step S1001 atwhich the next destination is read, and steps S1001 to S1004 arerepeated with respect to all the destinations in the destination list.

Next, at step S1005, the destinations are classified in accordance withthe data transmission formats of designated document data types as keys.Further, at step S1006, a plurality of destinations using the same datatransmission format are classified with transmission methods as keys. Atstep S1007, the document input unit 305 is instructed to input thedocument data, and at step S1008, the completion of document data inputis awaited. The input document data is temporarily stored in thedocument input unit.

Thereafter, at step S1009, a task A for managing format conversion and atask B for managing transmission of converted document data aregenerated, and the two tasks are operated in parallel. At step S1010,the completion of the task A and the task B is awaited. When these taskshave been completed, the document transmission ends. Note that the taskA and the task B are provided with the destination list classified atstep S1006 as parameter.

In task A, first, at step 1013, the format converter 308 is instructedto perform format conversion on the document data in correspondence withall the data transmission formats included in the destination listclassified at step S1006. The format converter 308 performs conversionof as many data transmission formats as possible in parallel, byutilizing the resources necessary for the operation such as the RAM 203and the HD drive 205, in parallel, as much as possible. At step S1014,the document transmission controller 302 waits for a notification of thecompletion of format conversion from the format converter 308, and atstep S1015, instructs the document transmitter 309 to transmit thedocument data converted at step S1015, with the destinations using thedata transmission format and transmission methods as parameters.

The document transmitter 309 also performs document transmission, asmany as possible in parallel, by utilizing the resources such as the RAM203, the HD drive 205, the network interface 208 and the facsimile modem209 in parallel as much as possible. At step S1016, it is determinedwhether or not notifications of the completion of format conversion withrespect to all the data transmission formats included in the provideddestination list have been sent from the format converter 308. If allthe notifications of the completion of the conversions have beenreceived, deletion of the document data held in the document input unitis instructed at step S1017. Then the processing of task A ends.

On the other hand, in the task B, a notification of the completion ofdocument transmission from the document transmitter 309 is awaited atstep S1020. The notification of the completion of document transmissionincludes a data transmission format and a transmission method. At stepS1021, it is determined whether or not document data which has beentransmitted in all the transmission methods exists in the destinationlist. If such document data exists, the format converter 308 isinstructed to delete the document data of the data transmission formatat step S1022. At step S1023, it is determined whether or not deletionhas been instructed with respect to all the data transmission formats.If YES, the operation of task B ends.

Note that the present embodiment may be realized by encoding and storingthe program of the flowchart of FIG. 9 or FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C andinto a storage medium, then loading the program from the storage mediumonto a general computer, and executing the program.

In this example, the document transmission program module group is aprogram code based on the flowchart of FIG. 9 or FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10Cin accordance with the block diagram of FIG. 3. The program module groupis stored in, e.g., the storage medium (FD) 212. FIG. 12 shows thestructure of the stored contents in the storage medium.

In FIG. 13, a document-transmission program execution file 1203 and itsrelated data 1204 are stored in the storage medium (FD) 212 and loadedvia the FD drive 204 onto a computer system 1300. When the FD 212 isinserted into the FD drive 204, the document-transmission programexecution file 1203 and the related data 1204 are read from the FD 212and loaded onto the RAM 203 and become operative under the control of anOS 1102 and a basic I/O program 1101.

FIG. 11 is a table showing an example of a memory map of the RAM 203 inthe embodiment where the document transmission program is loaded and isexecutable. The RAM 203 has a structure comprising areas for the basicI/O program 1101, the OS 1102, a document-transmission program modulegroup 1103, the related data 1104, and a work area 1105.

In the above example, the document-transmission program execution file1203 and the related data 1204 are directly loaded from the storagemedium (FD) 212 onto the RAM 203 and executed; however, it may bearranged such that the document-transmission program execution file 1203and the related data 1204 are temporarily stored (installed) into the HD205 from the storage medium (FD) 212, and when the document-transmissionprogram is operated, the stored file 1203 and the related data 1204 areloaded from the HD 205 onto the RAM 203.

Further, the storage medium for storing the document transmissionprogram may be a CD-ROM, an IC memory card and the like other than theFD 212. Further, it may be arranged such that the document-transmissionprogram module group is stored in the ROM 202, and directly executed bythe CPU 201.

Accordingly, the above-described embodiment provides a document datatransmission method for transmitting a document to a plurality ofreceivers by a plurality of transmission methods such as an e-mailsystem, a remote file system, a remote data base, a remote printer andthe like, connected via a network, and a plurality of receiversconnected via a telephone line, by instructing transmission only once,and a document transmission apparatus realizing the method.

That is, document data can be transmitted in appropriate datatransmission format and transmission method for each transmissionmethod, transmission destination and document type. Further, documentdata can be efficiently transmitted to a plurality of destinationsrequiring a plurality of data transmission formats.

<Address Book>

Next, management, editing and use of the address book used intransmission to various destinations as above will be described.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the flow of address-book editingprocessing.

The destination list generator 300 generates a destination list 1401 bycopying designated items from the address book 301. As shown in FIG. 15,the address book 301, held on the hard disk 205, includes abstractdestinations with a group of detailed destinations and a group oftransmission destinations. As shown in FIG. 16, the destination list1401, held on the RAM 203, includes a group of detailed destinations andthe like. The address book editor 1402 displays the contents of theaddress book on the display device 207, and the contents are edited fromthe keyboard 206. The address book editor 1402 further converts thecontents of the address book into HTML format data, and displays thedata via a Web server 1403 on a browser which operates on the client PC108 connected to an external device via the network. The Web server 1403transmits the address book in the HTML format converted by the addressbook editor 1402 to the client PC 108 on which the browser operates, bythe HTTP protocol. Further, the Web server 1403 transmits anaddress-book editing instruction transmitted from the browser operatingon the client PC 108 by the HTTP protocol to the address book editor1402, and the address book editor 1402 edits the address book 301 inaccordance with the instruction.

When a predetermined key on the keyboard 206 is depressed, thedestination list 1401 is sent to the document transmitter 309. Thedocument transmitter 309 transmits documents in accordance withdestinations and transmission methods described in the destination list1401.

FIG. 15 shows an examples of the contents of the address book 301.

The address book 301 comprises two types of files existing on the HD205. In one abstract destination file 1501, an abstract destination name(1502) and an abstract destination number (1503) are uniquely allottedto each abstract destination within the abstract destination file. Adetailed destination file 1505 exists for each abstract destinationnumber and shows members constituting the abstract destination. In thedetailed destination file 1505, the file name of the detaileddestination file is generated from the abstract destination number 1503,such that the detailed destination file can be uniquely designated fromthe abstract destination. The detailed destination file 1505 hastransmission methods 1506, destinations 1507 in accordance with thetransmission methods, and transmission-destination member flags 1508,each indicating whether or not the destination is a member of atransmission destination group. If the value of the transmissiondestination member flag 1508 is “1”, the destination is a member of thetransmission destination group, while if the value is “0”, thedestination is not a member of the transmission destination group.

As described above, the address book editor 1402 converts the contentsof the abstract destination file 1501 and the detailed destination files1505 into HTML format data, and displays the data via the Web server1403 on the browser which operates on the client PC 108 connected to theexternal device via the network. The Web server 1403 transmits theaddress book in the HTML format converted by the address book editor1402 to the client PC 108, on which the browser operates, by the HTTPprotocol. The browser operating on the client PC 108 modifies anddisplays the address book of the HTML format. The Web server 1403transmits an address-book editing instruction transmitted from thebrowser operating on the client PC 108 by the HTTP protocol to theaddress book editor 1402. The address book editor 1402 edits thecontents of the abstract destination file 1501 or the contents of thedetailed destination file 1505 in accordance with the instruction.

FIG. 16 shows data for the contents of the destination list 1401.

A destination list 1600 is generated in the RAM 203 by the destinationlist generator 300. FIG. 16 shows the memory map of the destination listgenerated in the RAM 203.

As shown in FIG. 16, the number of abstract destinations, an abstractdestination number (1601), the number of transmission destination groupmembers (1602) and a transmission destination group (1603), are storedas one set (1604), and a plurality of sets (1604) are stored in thedestination list 1600. The abstract destination number (1601)corresponds to the abstract destination number (1503) in the abstractdestination file of the address book. Each member of the transmissiondestination group holds a transmission method (1605) and a destination(1606) according to the transmission method.

FIG. 17 shows images of a user interface when detailed destinations arecopied into the destination list 1401 in accordance with designation ofan abstract destination in the address book 301.

In an image 1701, the contents of the address book 301 are displayed onthe display device 207. An abstract destination name (1502) in theabstract destination file 1501 is displayed in a destination displayarea 1702. In an image 1703, one abstract destination is selected fromthe image 1701. Numeral 1705 denotes the selected abstract destination.The detailed destinations having the transmission destination memberflags with values “1” in the detailed destination file 1505, generatedfrom the number of the selected abstract destination, are copied intothe destination list 1401 by depressing an OK key 1704 in the image1703. In an image 1706, the destination list 1401 is displayed on thedisplay device 207. In the image 1706, 1707 denotes a destination listdisplay area; 1708, an abstract destination name; and 1709 and 1710,detailed destinations as members of a transmission destination group(1603). In the image 1706, the transmission methods of the detaileddestinations are displayed in the form of icons.

FIG. 18 shows images of detailed destination display dialog as a userinterface used for displaying the contents of detailed destination uponaddition/change/deletion of detailed destination within the destinationlist.

In an image 1801, the destination list 1401 is displayed on the displaydevice 207. In the image 1801, numeral 1802 denotes a destination-listdisplay area; 1803, an abstract destination; and 1804 and 1805, detaileddestinations as members of the transmission destination group 1603. Inan image 1815, one abstract destination is selected from the image 1801.Numeral 1806 denotes the selected abstract destination. In the image1815, a detailed destination display dialog 1808 is displayed bydepressing an Edit key 1807. In an image 1816, the detailed destinationdisplay dialog is displayed. The detailed destination display dialogdisplays all the transmission methods of the members on the selectedabstract destination on the address book with destinations. Among thedisplayed destinations, regarding a detailed destination which is amember of the transmission destination group on the destination list1401, the color of key indicating the transmission method is changed. Inthe example of the image 1816, the color of keys 1810 and 1811 of thetransmission methods is changed, which indicates that these detaileddestinations are members of the transmission destination group.

FIG. 19 shows images of detailed destination display dialog as a userinterface used for adding a member to the transmission destination groupon the destination list.

An image 1901 shows the same state as that of the image 1816. In theimage 1901, a member is added to the transmission destination group onthe destination list 1401 by depressing a transmission method key 1906of a detailed destination which is not a member of the transmissiondestination group. In an image 1908, the member has been added. In theimage 1908, the color of the transmission method key is changed to acolor (1909) indicating that the destination is added to thetransmission destination group. Each transmission method key is a togglekey such that addition/deletion of member to/from the transmissiondestination group can be changed at each depression. In the state of theimage 1908, when an OK key 1910 on the detailed destination displaydialog is depressed, the addition of the member to the transmissiondestination group on the destination list is determined, and thedisplayed content in the destination list display area is changed. In animage 1911, the addition of the member to the transmission destinationgroup on the destination list has been determined. In the image 1911,numeral 1912 denotes an abstract destination; and 1914, the addeddetailed destination.

Further, the contents of the detailed destinations can be changed byediting the contents of the destinations 1903 on the detaileddestination display dialog 1902.

The detailed destination display dialog is closed by depressing the OKkey 1910 on the detailed destination display dialog, and the change oftransmission destination is reflected on the destination list displayarea.

FIG. 20 shows images of detailed destination display dialog as userinterface used for deleting a member from the transmission destinationgroup on the destination list.

An image 2001 shows the same state as that of the image 1816. In FIG.20, transmission method keys 2009 and 2010 of detailed destinations ascurrent members of the transmission destination group on the image 1901are depressed, and the members are deleted from the transmissiondestination group on the destination list 1401. In an image 2008, themembers are deleted. In the image 2008, the color of the transmissionmethod keys 2009 and 2010 of the deleted members is changed to a colorindicating that these members are deleted. In the state of the image2008, the deletion of the members from the transmission destinationgroup on the destination list is determined by depressing an OK key 2011on the detailed destination display dialog, and the displayed content ofthe destination list display area is changed. In an image 2012, themembers have been deleted from the transmission destination group on thedestination list.

As shown in the image 2012, when all the detailed addresses are deletedfrom the transmission destination group 1603 and the OK key 2011 isdepressed on the detailed destination dialog 2002, all the detaileddestinations are deleted from the destination list display area 2013. Atthe same time, the destination list generator 300 determines whether ornot the transmission destination group 1603 edited on the destinationlist 1600 is an empty set. If the transmission destination group is anempty set, the destination list generator 300 deletes the abstractdestination set 1604 from the destination list 1600, and updates thedestination list display area. As a result, as shown in the image 2012,the abstract destinations are deleted from the destination list displayarea.

Further, in the image 2001, if an abstract destination 2014 is selectedand a Delete key 2017 is depressed, the corresponding abstractdestination set 1604 can be deleted. Further, if a detailed destination2015 is selected and the Delete key 2017 is depressed, the selecteddetailed destination is deleted. In this case, if all the members 2015and 2016 of the transmission destination group are selected and theDelete key 2017 is depressed, the destination list generator 300determines whether or not the transmission destination group 1603 editedon the destination list 1600 is an empty set. If the transmissiondestination group is an empty set, the destination list generator 300deletes the abstract destination set 1604 from the destination list1600, and updates the destination list display area. As a result, asshown in the image 2012, the abstract destinations are deleted from thedestination list display area.

In the above description, the address book comprises one abstractdestination setting file and a plurality of detailed destination settingfiles; however, the same logical structure as the address book in thedescription may be realized as a data base managed by a data-basemanagement system by an external device on the network.

Further, the address book may be realized as directory informationmanaged in a directory server. The processing in this case is will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 21.

In FIG. 21, numeral 2109 denotes a directory server which providesservices based on directory-service standards X.500. The address book isheld in the directory server 2109, and is connected to the documenttransmission apparatus 101 by LDAP (lightweight Directory Accessprotocol) as an access protocol to the directory server via the network,whereby the address book can be referred to and updated from thedocument transmission apparatus 101.

FIG. 22 is an example of a script of the address book held in thedirectory server 2109. FIG. 22 shows an example of the script of theaddress book described in a format based on the X.500 standards. In ascript 2201 of the address book, a set of sentences partitioned with anempty line describes information on one abstract destination. In thisexample, numeral 2202 denotes an abstract destination; 2203 to 2206,detailed destinations; and 2207 and 2208, declarations of members of atransmission destination group.

Further, similar processing may be realized by encoding the flow of FIG.18 based on the block diagram of FIG. 14 and recording the coded flow ina storage medium, and by loading the program to a general computer.

This program is stored in, e.g., the storage medium FD 212 as an objectprogram. FIG. 12 shows the structure of the stored contents.

As shown in FIG. 13, the document transmission program and its relateddata stored in the storage medium FD 212 can be loaded onto the presentcomputer system 1300 via the FD driver 204. When the storage medium FDis inserted into the FD drive 204, a transmission destination settingprogram and the related data are read from the storage medium FD 212then loaded onto the RAM 203 and become operative, under the control ofthe OS 1102 and the basic I/O program 1101.

FIG. 11 is a table showing an example of a memory map of the RAM 203where the document transmission program is loaded and is executable. TheRAM 203 has a structure comprising areas for the basic I/O program 1101,the OS 1102, the document-transmission program module group 1103, therelated data 1104, and the work area 1105.

Further, in the above description, the document transmission program andthe related data are directly loaded from the storage medium FD 212 ontothe RAM 203 and executed; however, it may be arranged such that thetransmission destination setting program and management data aretemporarily stored (installed) into the HD 205, and when thetransmission destination setting program is operated, the stored programand the management data are loaded from the HD 205 onto the RAM 203.

Further, the medium for storing the transmission destination settingprogram may be a CD-ROM, an IC memory card and the like other than theFD (212). Further, it may be arranged such that the transmissiondestination setting program is stored in the ROM 202, and directlyexecuted by the CPU 201 as a part of the memory map.

[Second Embodiment]

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 23, a detailed destination selector 2300 selects a detaileddestination (a transmission method and a destination) to which adocument is actually transmitted, from a group of detailed destinationsindicated by an abstract destination designated by a user, by comparingconditions described in the address book 301 with information,operational environment and document attribute provided by the user.Similarly, the detailed destination selector 2300 selects a detaileddestination to which a notice of transmission is transmitted. Theselected detailed destination of the document and that of the notice oftransmission are provided to the document transmitter 309 and used fortransmission of the document and the notice of transmission. Further,the detailed destination of the document is provided to a noticegenerator 2311 and is used as information for generating the notice oftransmission.

As shown in FIG. 23, the conditions (selection conditions) for using adetailed destination group and detailed destinations in transmission ofdocuments and notice of transmission are described in the address book301 with the abstract destinations, and held on the hard disk 205.

In FIG. 23, document security 2302 is information provided by the userfor each document transmission. The document security 2302 is used asreference information for selecting a detailed destination by thedetailed destination selector 2300.

Also, document priority 2303 is information provided by the user foreach document transmission. The document priority 2303 is used asreference information for selecting a detailed destination by thedetailed destination selector 2300.

Further, place 2305 where the document transmission apparatus 101operates is information provided by the user for each documenttransmission. The place 2305 is used as reference information forselecting a detailed destination by the detailed destination selector2300. In the present embodiment, the place information is designatedbased on a telephone number of a place where the document transmissionapparatus operates.

Further, time 2306 provides information on date, day and time ofdocument transmission to the detailed destination selector 2300.

A document-attribute judgment unit 2307 judges attributes of document,read from the scanner 210 or held in the hard disk 205 by an instructionfrom the document input unit 305, such as vertical and lateral sizes,the number of pages, information indicating whether the document is acolor/monochrome document, and document data size, and provides theresults of judgment to the detailed destination selector 2300. Thesedocument attributes are used as reference information for selecting adetailed destination and as information for generating a notice oftransmission by the notice generator 2311.

The notice generator 2311 operates in accordance with the flowchart ofFIG. 26, to generate a notice of transmission from the information fromthe detailed destination selector 2300 and the document-attributejudgment unit 2307.

The document transmitter 309 examines the statuses of the network 107and the telephone line 106, used in document transmission, the statusesof the electronic mail server 102, the file server 103, the data base104 and the printer 105, used in document transmission via the network,and provides information as to whether or not they are available fordocument transmission to the detailed destination selector 2300.Further, the document transmitter 309 transmits a document provided fromthe document input unit 305 and a document provided from the noticegenerator 2311 to detailed destinations provided from the detaileddestination selector 2300.

FIG. 24 shows contents of the address book 301 in this case.

A script 2401 of the address book is described in a format based on theX.500 standards, and is held as a file existing on the hard disk 205. Inthe format as shown in FIG. 24, a set of sentences partitioned with anempty sentence describes one abstract destination. In this example,numeral 2402 denotes an abstract destination; 2403 to 2406, respectivedetailed destinations of a facsimile apparatus, an electronic mail, aprinter and a remote file; 2407, detailed-destination selectionconditions for document transmission; and 2409, detailed-destinationselection conditions for transmission of notice of transmission.

As shown in FIG. 24, the detailed-destination selection conditions 2407are represented by comparisons between keywords and values and logicalexpressions including these comparisons. FIG. 25 shows the expressionsof the detailed destination selection conditions 2407 and 2409, thekeywords used in these conditions and the ranges of allowable values.The detailed destination selector 2300 calculates the respectiveconditional expressions 2407 with given conditions, and selects adetailed destination with a “true” value. As the conditional expressions2407 are independently evaluated, a plurality of detailed destinationsmay be selected. In this case, the document transmitter 309 isinstructed to transmit a document to the plurality of detaileddestinations. Further, none of the calculation results may be “true”. Inthis case, a default detailed destination 2408 is selected.

As shown in the conditions 2409, a selected detailed destination of thedocument may be used as a condition for designating a detaileddestination of a notice of transmission. As described above, in case ofnotice of transmission, a plurality of detailed destinations may beselected since the conditional expressions 2409 are independentlyevaluated, and in such case, the document transmitter 309 is instructedto transmit the notice of transmission to the plurality of detaileddestinations. Further, when none of the results of calculation of theconditional expressions is “true”, a default detailed destination 2410is selected. In this example, the default detailed destination of noticeof transmission is “NONE” (notice of transmission is not transmitted).

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing processing for generating a notice oftransmission by the notice generator 2311.

In FIG. 26, an empty document (blank document) is generated at stepS2601. At step S2602, an abstract destination is inserted. At stepS2603, a date and time are inserted. At step S2604, the number ofdocument pages is inserted. At step S2605, the transmission method of adetailed destination is inserted. At step S2606, a detailed destinationis inserted. At step S2607, steps S2605 and S2606 are repeated for thenumber of detailed destinations. Finally, at step S2608, a form documentis inserted; thus, a notice of transmission is completed. The notice oftransmission is transmitted in accordance with the transmission methodof the designated destination. FIG. 27 shows an example of a completednotice of transmission.

In the above description, the area code of a place where the documenttransmission apparatus exists, inputted by the user, is used as theplace information, however, a network address of the documenttransmission apparatus may be used as the place information. Further, itmay be arranged such that information from a device which automaticallydetects the place of an apparatus such as a GPS (Global PositioningSystem) is obtained, and the latitude and longitude are used as theplace information.

Further, the detailed destination selection conditions 2407 and 2409 areset for each destination in the script 2401 of the address book, andchanged for each destination; however, it may be arranged such that thedetailed destination selection conditions are held as an informationbase independent of the address book, and the detailed destinationselector 2300 selects a detailed destination based on information fromthe information base.

Further, similar processing may be realized by encoding the flow basedon the block diagram of FIG. 23 and storing the coded flow in a storagemedium, and by loading the program into a general computer.

This program is stored in the storage medium FD 212 as a coded program.FIG. 12 shows the structure of the stored contents.

As shown in FIG. 13, the document transmission program and its relateddata stored in the storage medium FD 212 can be loaded onto the presentcomputer system 1300 via the FD drive 204. When the storage medium FD isinserted into the FD drive 204, the document transmission program andthe related data are read from the storage medium FD 212, then loadedonto the RAM 203, where they become operative, under the control of theOS 1102 and the basic I/O program 1101.

FIG. 11 is a table showing an example of a memory map of the RAM 203where the document transmission program is loaded and is executable. TheRAM 203 has a structure comprising areas for the basic I/O program 1101,the OS 1102, the document-transmission program module group 1103, therelated data 1104, and the work area 1105.

Further, in the above description, the document transmission program andthe related data are directly loaded from the storage medium FD 212 ontothe RAM 203 and executed; however, it may be arranged such that thetransmission destination setting program and management data aretemporarily stored (installed) into the HD 205, and when thetransmission destination setting program is operated, the stored programand the management data are loaded from the HD 205 onto the RAM 203.

Further, the medium for storing the document transmission program may bea CD-ROM, an IC memory card and the like other than the FD (212).

Further, the document transmission program may be stored in the ROM 202,and directly executed by the CPU 201 as a part of the memory map.

Further, the information provided by the user for each documenttransmission is used as the document security 2302 and the documentpriority 2303; however, such information may be obtained by analyzingthe subject of a document provided from the user for each documenttransmission. The analysis is made by comparing the character string ofthe subject with a predetermined dictionary. The dictionary containswords, and the security or priority in use of each word. The characterstring of the subject is searched to find words existing in thedictionary, and the security or priority of the obtained plurality ofwords are used as the document security 2302 or document priority 2303.

Further, in the above description, the security and priority of thedocument are obtained by analyzing the subject of the document providedby the user; however, such information may be obtained by analyzing thedocument. In this case, the document-attribute judgment unit 2307converts the document data into character string data by characterrecognition processing, and compares the obtained character string datawith a dictionary as described above, to obtain the document security2303 and the document priority 2303.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments andvarious changes and modifications can be made within the spirit andscope of the present invention. Therefore, to apprise the public of thescope of the present invention, the following claims are made.

1. A transmission apparatus, comprising: an input unit that inputsdocument data; a conversion unit that converts the document data inputby the input unit to document data in a designated format; and atransmission unit that (i) transmits converted document data, which isobtained by a single conversion of the document data by the conversionunit, to a first destination and a second destination, and (ii)transmits converted document data, which is obtained by another singleconversion of the document data by the conversion unit, to a thirddestination, in a case where the first destination corresponding to afirst transmission method, the second destination corresponding to asecond transmission method, and the third destination corresponding to athird transmission method are designated as a destination of thedocument data.
 2. A method of controlling a transmission apparatus, themethod comprising: inputting document data; converting the document datainput in the inputting step to document data in a designated format; and(i) transmitting converted document data, which is obtained by a singleconversion of the document data in the converting step, to a firstdestination and a second destination, and (ii) transmitting converteddocument data, which is obtained by another single conversion of thedocument data in the converting step, to a third destination, in a casewhere the first destination corresponding to a first transmissionmethod, the second destination corresponding to a second transmissionmethod, and the third destination corresponding to a third transmissionmethod are designated as a destination of the document data.
 3. A methodof controlling a transmission apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe first transmission method is to transmit image data by an electronicmail and the second transmission method is to transmit image data in afile transfer protocol.
 4. A non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the followingsteps: inputting document data; converting the document data input inthe inputting step to document data in a designated format; and (i)transmitting converted document data, which is obtained by a singleconversion of the document data in the converting step, to a firstdestination and a second destination, and (ii) transmitting converteddocument data, which is obtained by another single conversion of thedocument data in the converting step, to a third destination, in a casewhere the first destination corresponding to a first transmissionmethod, the second destination corresponding to a second transmissionmethod, and the third destination corresponding to a third transmissionmethod are designated as a destination of the document data.
 5. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 4,wherein the first transmission method is to transmit image data by anelectronic mail and the second transmission method is to transmit imagedata in a file transfer protocol.
 6. A transmission apparatus,comprising: a scanner that reads a document and inputs document datarepresenting the document; a conversion unit that converts the documentdata input by the input unit to document data in a designated format;and a transmission unit that transmits converted document data, which isobtained by a single conversion of the document data by the conversionunit, to a first destination and a second destination, in a case wherethe first destination corresponding to e-mail and the second destinationcorresponding to FTP are designated as a destination of the documentdata.
 7. A transmission apparatus according to claim 6, furthercomprising a deleting unit configured to delete the converted documentdata after transmission by the transmission unit completes.
 8. A methodof controlling a transmission apparatus, the method comprising: readinga document and inputting document data representing the document;converting the document data input in the inputting step to documentdata in a designated format; and transmitting converted document data,which is obtained by a single conversion of the document data in theconverting step, to a first destination and a second destination, in acase where the first destination corresponding to e-mail and the seconddestination corresponding to FTP are designated as a destination of thedocument data.
 9. A method of controlling a transmission apparatusaccording to claim 8, further comprising deleting the converted documentdata after transmission by the transmitting step completes.
 10. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program forcausing a computer to execute the following steps: reading a documentand inputting document data representing the document; converting thedocument data input in the inputting step to document data in adesignated format; and transmitting converted document data, which isobtained by a single conversion of the document data in the convertingstep, to a first destination and a second destination, in a case wherethe first destination corresponding to e-mail and the second destinationcorresponding to FTP are designated as a destination of the documentdata.
 11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according toclaim 10, wherein said program further causes the computer to execute astep of deleting the converted document data after transmission by thetransmitting step completes.
 12. A transmission apparatus, comprising:an input unit that inputs document data; a conversion unit that convertsthe document data input by the input unit to document data in adesignated format; and a transmission unit that transmits converteddocument data, which is obtained by a single conversion of the documentdata by the conversion unit, to a first destination and a seconddestination, in a case where the first destination corresponding to afirst transmission method and the second destination corresponding to asecond transmission method are designated as a destination of thedocument data and a format corresponding to the first destination is thesame as a format corresponding to the second destination.
 13. Atransmission apparatus according to claim 12, wherein in a case wherethe format corresponding to the first destination is not the same as theformat corresponding to the second destination, the transmission unit(i) transmits converted document data, which is obtained by a singleconversion of the document data by the conversion unit, to the firstdestination and (ii) transmits converted document data, which isobtained by another single conversion of the document data by theconversion unit, to the second destination.
 14. A method of controllinga transmission apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the firsttransmission method is to transmit image data by an electronic mail andthe second transmission method is to transmit image data in a filetransfer protocol.
 15. A transmission apparatus according to claim 12,wherein the first transmission method is to transmit image data by anelectronic mail and the second transmission method is to transmit imagedata in a file transfer protocol.
 16. A method of controlling atransmission apparatus, the method comprising: inputting document data;converting the document data input in the inputting step to documentdata in a designated format; and transmitting converted document data,which is obtained by a single conversion of the document data in theconverting step, to a first destination and a second destination, in acase where the first destination corresponding to a first transmissionmethod and the second destination corresponding to a second transmissionmethod are designated as a destination of the document data and a formatcorresponding to the first destination is the same as a formatcorresponding to the second destination.
 17. A method of controlling atransmission apparatus according to claim 16, wherein in a case wherethe format corresponding to the first destination is not the same as theformat corresponding to the second destination, (i) converted documentdata, which is obtained by a single conversion of the document data inthe converting step, is transmitted to the first destination and (ii)converted document data, which is obtained by another single conversionof the document data by in the converting step, is transmitted to thesecond destination.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable storagemedium according to claim 16, wherein the first transmission method isto transmit image data by an electronic mail and the second transmissionmethod is to transmit image data in a file transfer protocol.
 19. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program forcausing a computer to execute the following steps: inputting documentdata; converting the document data input in the inputting step todocument data in a designated format; and transmitting converteddocument data, which is obtained by a single conversion of the documentdata in the converting step, to a first destination and a seconddestination, in a case where the first destination corresponding to afirst transmission method and the second destination corresponding to asecond transmission method are designated as a destination of thedocument data and a format corresponding to the first destination is thesame as a format corresponding to the second destination.
 20. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 19,wherein in a case where the format corresponding to the firstdestination is not the same as the format corresponding to the seconddestination, (i) converted document data, which is obtained by a singleconversion of the document data in the converting step, is transmittedto the first destination and (ii) converted document data, which isobtained by another single conversion of the document data in theconverting step, is transmitted to the second destination.
 21. Atransmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firsttransmission method is to transmit image data by an electronic mail andthe second transmission method is to transmit image data in a filetransfer protocol.